Despite spreadsheets being fundamental in the data space, visibility and trust are key challenges.

To address this need, Alation Inc. launched Alation Connected Sheets, which incorporates data intelligence and uses a data catalog that is connected to Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, according to Raj Gossain (pictured), chief product officer at Alation.

“We recognize that spreadsheets are really the dark matter of the data universe,” he said. “Over 78 million people use spreadsheets on a regular basis to drive critical business analysis. So we wanted to bring the power of the Alation Data Intelligence platform to business users where they spend most of their time. And so we’re launching a brand new product called Alation Connected Sheets.”

Gossain spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante during a recent CUBE Conversation, during an exclusive interview on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the how Alation Connected Sheets incorporates data intelligence, trust and visibility into spreadsheets. (* Disclosure below.)

Bringing data intelligence to business users

Based on the wide usage of spreadsheets, integrating them with data intelligence is a game-changer, according to Gossain. So, any business users should be able to utilize them with ease.

“Our vision, our aspiration at Alation is to really bring data intelligence to any business user,” he stated. “So it’s a big part of our strategy to make sure that the insights from the Alation catalog and platform can find their way into tools like Excel and Google Sheets.”

By incorporating descriptive information into spreadsheets, Alation Connected Sheets makes access to trusted and governed data a possibility. This turns spreadsheets into an asset rather than a risk factor, Gossain pointed out.

“We built the leading data intelligence platform and the leading data catalog,” he said. “And one of the benefits of that catalog is where you have visibility into all of the trusted, governed data sources that a data organization cares about, whether it’s enterprise warehouses like Snowflake or Redshift, databases like SQL Server, Google BigQuery, what have you.”

Knowing the source of data is critical for enhanced decision-making. Therefore, Alation Connected Sheets prompts this objective, making data well-governed, reliable and trusted, Gossain pointed out.

“The big challenges that we see when we talk to data organizations are how do they understand where the data came from? Is it trusted? Is it reusable?” he stated. “And if you look at where most users that use spreadsheets get the data to power their spreadsheets, maybe it’s a CSV download from a database. And then you have no idea where the data came from and where it’s going. Or even worse, it’s copying and pasting data from other spreadsheets.”

Here’s the complete video interview, one of many CUBE Conversations from SiliconANGLE and theCUBE:

(* Disclosure: Alation Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Alation nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE